The following interesting extract from a communication to the _Times_, by
Sir Morton Peto, Bart., respecting the construction of the railway from
Balaclava to the British camp is worthy of preservation. Sir Morton
remarks:—“It was in the midst of the dreary winter of 1854, when the
British army was suffering unparalleled hardships before Sebastopol, that
it was resolved to construct a railway from Balaclava to the British
camp. Let honour be given where honour is due.—The idea emanated from
the Duke of Newcastle. His Grace applied to our firm to assist in
carrying out the design. The sympathies of all England were excited at
the time by the sufferings of our troops. Every one was emulous to
contribute all that could be contributed to their succour and support.
The firm of which I am a partner was anxious to take its share in the
good work, and, on the Duke of Newcastle’s application, we cheerfully
undertook to make all the arrangements for carrying his Grace’s views
into execution, on the understanding that the work should be considered
National; and that we should be permitted to execute it without any
charge for profit.
We accordingly placed at the disposal of Her Majesty’s Government the
whole of our resources. We fitted out transports with the stores
necessary for the construction of the railway; employed and equipped
hundreds of men to execute the works; provided a commissariat exclusively
for their use; engaged medical officers to attend to their health, and
placed the whole service under the direction of the most experienced
agents on our staff. These important preliminaries were arranged so
effectually, and with so much despatch, that the Emperor of the French
sent an agent to this country to instruct himself as to the mode in which
we equipped the expedition.
Every item shipped by us for the works was valued before shipment at its
selling price; and for all these items of valuation, as well as for the
payments which we made for labour, we received the certificate of the
most eminent engineer of the day (the late lamented Mr. Robert
Stephenson). We undertook the execution of the Balaclava Railway as a
‘National’ work, agreeing to execute it without profit. We performed our
contract to the letter. We never profited by it to the extent of a
single shilling.
The works (nearly seven miles of railway) were executed in less than a
month; an incredibly short space of time, considering the season of the
year, the severity of the climate, and the difficulties to which,
considering the distance from home, we were all of us exposed. It is a
matter of history that they eventuated in the taking of the great
fortress of Sebastopol. Before the railway was made, all the shot, all
the shell, and all the ammunition necessary for the siege, had to be
carried from Balaclava to the camp, a distance of five miles up hill,
through mud and sludge, upon the backs of the soldiers. An immense
proportion of our troops was told off for this most laborious service; of
whom no less than 25 per cent per month perished in its execution. On
the day the railway was opened, it carried to the camp of the British
army, in 24 hours, more shot and shell than had been brought from
Balaclava for six weeks previously.
To our principal agent in the Crimea, the late Mr. Beattie, the greatest
credit was due for the way in which the arrangements were made, and the
work executed on that side. Mr. Beattie’s labours were so arduous, and
his efforts so untiring, that he died of fatigue within six weeks after
the completion of the work—a victim, absolutely, to his unparalleled
exertions. The only favour in connection with these works which the Duke
of Newcastle ever granted at our request, he granted to the family of
this lamented gentleman. Mr. Beattie left a widow and four children to
deplore his loss, and through the favour of the Duke of Newcastle, the
widow, who now resides with her father, an estimable clergyman in the
North of Ireland, enjoys a pension as the widow of a colonel falling in
the field.”